Lessons from EWTN’s Family Celebration

A boy puts together a puzzle on the EWTN Kids website at the Kids’ Faith Factory during EWTN’s Family Celebration in Phoenix Sept. 8.

What did you learn from EWTN’s Family Celebration? Hopefully something about following God’s call, whether that’s

in the political spectrum (as heard during the religious liberty roundtable and other key talks)

in your daily interactions with others (as challenged by Raymond Arroyo to leave behind a legacy accomplished more effectively through creative imagery than words)

in religious life (as witnessed by the Poor Clares, priests, brothers and sisters)

in high school as witnessed by two teenagers at St. Henry Parish in Buckeye

in college as witnessed by three young adults involved with St. Paul’s Outreach at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus

Some other possible lessons:

The Phoenix Diocese is blessed to have Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted as its shepherd. Not a lesson for most local Catholics, but conversations with people from other areas (the weekend crowd came from some two dozen states) consistently said what a great bishop we have.

Order your youth or adult shirt.

EWTN knows the meaning of family. Between meet and greets with EWTN hosts and authors, a religious catalog shop, live radio broadcasts, a family corner and kids area, there was something for everyone. The kids area was particularly impressive for having activities of kids at a range of ages with a really low overhead cost. Catholic computer games, legos, balloons, coloring, a puppet, Catholic video feed. I recommend “The Diego’s House.” You can make music and do other early childhood activities in “Teresita’s room.” The boys’ room largely offers more advanced games. Feel free to beat my time on the matching game of 1 minute, 5 seconds.

San Diego-based GotMary.com could soon see an uptick in business. Kris and Barbara Sheddy from Santee, Calif., sported their matching “Got Mary?” shirts Sept. 8. Those words appeared on the front with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the words “She’s got your back” on the reverse. They said people all weekend asked them where they got their shirts. Barbara said they’re a sight outside of abortion facilities too. The shirts run about $13.

EWTN’s religious catalogue is a rich resource for spiritual growth, faith formation and gift-giving. And it’s available online.

Skyline Productions, the hard-working crew offering a live video feed all weekend, is incredibly talented.

1 COMMENT

Went to mass on Sunday with my family. Have to say I surprised by the amount of Latin used during the mass. It was difficult for my young children to follow. I thought the weekend was the EWTN “Family” weekend. I was particularly surprised that the creed was sung in Latin. I guess we all found out what the choir believes. But the rest of us could only stand and listen. My children and I were not allowed to profess our Catholic beliefs. I have tried to teach them about the parts of the mass and have told them that the creed is important because this is where we as Catholics are declaring what we believe and stand for. Whoever is responsible for the planning of the liturgy ought to be aware that we, the people in the congregation, all would like to have the opportunity to profess our beliefs. Isn’t that one of the reasons the wording of the creed was changed from “We believe” to “I believe.” It also would be nice to say or sing the Lord’s Prayer in English. Much more meaningful to myself and my children.

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